A woman has been arraigned in court after the bodies of three infants were found in a filthy Massachusetts house full of insects and flies.
Erika Murray, 31, faces charges including foetal death concealment and witness intimidation, though she is not accused of the children's deaths. Not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf on Friday.
It was not clear how the babies died or how old they were, said prosecutors.
The search is continuing for any more bodies at the home where four other children were removed by authorities last month.
"The house is filled with vermin," said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early.
"We have flies. We have bugs. We have used diapers, in some areas, as much as a foot-and-a-half to two-feet high.
"The house is in a deplorable condition."
A neighbour notified police after discovering the children's living conditions at the house in Blackstone, a small town in Worcester County.
The accused's lawyer told AP news agency his client, who was arrested on Thursday night, suffered from mental illness.
Investigators at the premises have been wearing hazardous materials suits, and are decontaminated when they leave.
The four other children, ages 13, 10, three and six months, were removed from the house on August 28.
One of the children in the house approached the neighbour saying there was a child in the house who would not stop crying.
The six-month-old was found covered with faeces lying on a bed.
Marilynn Soucy, 68, who lives a few doors down from the house, said: "I can't fathom it, that it would happen - it's not through my head yet."
The four kids who were freed are now in state custody.